University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private non-profit institution located in Los Angeles, California, with an enrollment of approximately 20,443 students. Admission is highly selective: USC accepts roughly 9.8% of applicants, meaning the large majority of those who apply are not offered a place.

Published tuition is $72,097 per year, the same for in-state and out-of-state students. The average annual net price — the total estimated cost of attendance, including tuition, fees, and living expenses, after grant and scholarship aid is applied — is $32,740. That figure is an average across aid recipients and will vary considerably by individual financial circumstances. About 22.2% of students receive Pell Grants, a federal aid program for lower-income students.

Among students who took out federal loans and then completed their program, the median federal loan debt was $18,000. Only 23.6% of all students borrowed federal loans. Of those borrowers, 80.2% were actively reducing their loan balance within three years of entering repayment — a sign that most borrowers are managing their debt rather than falling behind.

USC has a first-year retention rate of 95.9% and a graduation rate of 91.8%, indicating that a strong majority of students who enroll go on to complete their credential. The median earnings figure — $92,498 at 10 years after initial enrollment — is measured across all federally-aided students who enrolled, including those who did not complete a degree, so it reflects a broad population rather than graduates alone.

Among the programs available, USC offers graduate-level study in library and information science, which may be of interest to adults seeking professional credentials in that field. Prospective students should contact the university directly for current program availability, admission requirements, and specific cost information.